Sara Merica, Angelina Tejada-Ingram, Jeanne Vitus, Jeanelle Smith, Mac Stebbins, Katie Sutter, Kayla Bortolazzo
Week 1 Resources
1) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Imagine Learning" Sara Merica (team captain)
This resource found on YouTube.com discusses a literacy learning program called Imagine Learning. This program is used for students with disabilities and is beneficial because it allows each student to work toward individual goals. The summary sheet identifies the students' progress and their independent work toward specific goals. From the information provided in this video clip, I feel this program is not only beneficial for the students, but also the teacher. The teacher states how she is able to print off a report of the student's work. She can see exactly what the student needs to continue to improve on and what goals they have met. The report can allow the teacher to group students according to abilities and common goals. Students with disabilities work on improving their literacy skills just as the students without disabilities are. By being able to see similar abilities and targeted goals, it is easier to group students as necessary. This video also shows how literacy can involve technology, which is important because of its growing popularity among students.
2) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Multi-level Literacy" Sara Merica (team captain)
At first I was not fond of the narrator of this resource, but the video gives some very applicable strategies and approaches to implementing multi-levels of literacy. These different applications can benefit the diverse group of students you may have in your classroom (all different abilities). This video discusses how to use tiered assignments involving the same content, by using different parts of Blooms Taxonomy as a guide. The assignments are given in different levels (different levels of complexity) which meets the needs of students with and without disabilities within your class, without having to divide your class up into different content groups. This resource gives very applicable assignment levels regarding well-known stories. The approaches to different assignments are given for elementary students all the way through middle and high school levels. It gives the viewer a well-rounded understanding of how to create multi-levels of literaacy for the variety of students that may be present.
This comic strip represents the diversity among your students in your classroom. There are all different types of learners, some with disabilities and some without, present and ready to learn! It is not until you understand the different abilities that you can truly start teaching!
4) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Ben enjoys storytime!"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This YouTube video is short but engaging. It was interesting to observe how this teacher adapts her literacy lesson plans to meet the specific needs of each of her students. Although the focus is on the young boy (Ben), you can see how she is able to accomodate the other students she is teaching, as well. I think this video does a good job of demonstrating how teachers can gauge whether their students are comprehending the subject or not through pictures and touch. This is especially important for students with communication impairments.
5) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Teach Your Child Functional Language Pt. 2" Kayla Bortolazzo
This video is from Rethink Autism. The primary focus of the video is to show how visual images (such as picture cards) and gestures are often necessary when teaching children with Autism literacy skills. Verbal literacy is an important part of learning and utilizing a language. However, for students with Autism, verbal expression may be difficult. This adaptation provides a useful way for children with Autism to effectively communicate what they want or what they have learned to their teacher (as well as to their parents, peers, etc.).
6) Online Resource: eHow "How to Help Special-Needs Children Learn the Alphabet" Kayla Bortolazzo
This is an online lesson plan that explains one way a teacher can help children with special-needs learn the alphabet. Of course, this is only one method. When it comes down to it, there are so many students with so many types of learning impairments that there is no "one size fits all" approach to teaching the foundations of literacy. However, this is one, very general, option that I found. I think the site is useful in that it is written in an abreviated lesson plan format, so it lists all of the steps and materials you will need to facilitate the activity.
7.) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Differentiate Instruction, K-2, Part II: Tiered Assignments, Student Choice and Other Strategies" Katie Sutter
The Bureau of Education and Research (B.E.R.) provides teachers with a new take on current curriculum as well as instruction on improved teaching strategies. B.E.R. specializes in online training programs for Educators in North America and utilizes current social research as its base for inclusion strategies and differential instruction. This specific clip focuses on the power of choice in the classroom, and how in allowing students a variety of options empowers each individual and provides the teacher with an insight to each students learning preference. Because every student learns differently this technique allows students to pick what learning style best represents their own. This type of flexibility in the classroom is essential when working with students from a variety of different backgrounds in an effort to meet a sea of different needs. Because this is a more broad technique i feel that it may be better incorporated into any classroom, subject or grade. Because most students with disabilities learn in a general education classroom the "choice" method helps students learn at a level appropriate for them.
8) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Teaching Autistic Kid To Read." Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This video resource shows a mother teaching her son with autism his letter sounds using the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. The following techniques depicted in the video are good ones to take note of: keeping things simple, using body movement, and using repetition. It gets a little distracted at the end, but overall the video clip is a great example of a real-life child with disabilities learning to read.
9) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Inclusion at work in elementary school." Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This video clip runs like a news clip. It talks about a young boy with down syndrome who is an active member of a general education classroom. It is a very neat story! The clip shows this boy learning to read and write and perform just like any other student in the classroom.. The teacher describes how this special student learns best using a visual format with more repetition while breaking down learning into smaller steps. But all students could benefit by learning that same way. I enjoy this video because it shows integration in action!
10) Slide Show: slideshare.net "Learning Disabilities and Reading Instruction."
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This resource is a slide show whose author relates struggling with reading to learning disabilities. The author claims that "Students who are better readers have higher self-esteem and self-confidence and view school in a more positive way, while students who struggle with reading participate in less social interactions with peers." This is the reasoning behind providing better reading instruction for students with disabilities. The author gives concise ways to provide better reading instruction for students with disabilities, including: using mnemonics, advanced story maps, peer assistance, and more. This resource is a wonderful one because of its specific teaching ideas for teaching literacy to students with disabilities. NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A HARD TIME READING THE TEXT ON SLIDES 4, 13, AND 14, TRY DARKENING YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN. THE BRIGHT COLORATION IS EASIER TO READ THAT WAY.
11) Video Resource - YouTube.com "Dyslexia -- the Signs to Look for" Jeanne Vitus
This video is especially helpful for teachers and parents to diagnose or assess dyslexia and early intervention. This shows signs to look for and helpful ideas for intervention.
12) Article: readingrocket.org "Tell Me About the Story: Comprehension Strategies for Students with Autism." Janelle Smith
This is an interesting article about different strategies for encouraging reading comprehension in children with autism. It begins by talking about how many students with autism are able to read, but do not understand what they read when questioned about it. The article then outlines several method for encouraging reading comprehension, with examples, and there are methods which are appropriate for students of all ages.
13) Video resource: Second Language Acquisition in under 5 min Mac Stebbins
This is a good, succinct video on language acquisition. It was clearly disigned more for teachers addressing adult second language learneers, but the simplicity of the points made in the video and the clear explanation of certain concepts (grammatical structures, use of subjects/objects, et cetera) makes this a good video for a teacher with any students whose disabilities involve a difficulty with language acquisition even if it concerns the students' first language.
14) Video resource: Adapted Literature Mac Stebbins
This guy could stand to work on his presentation but what he's presenting is pretty great. He's demonstrating and explaining a couple of methods for teaching literature to students with severe cognitive disabilities using adapted liturature. This works for my content area because it doesn't take much fiddling to work these strategies towards teaching a second language.
15) Slideshow/report?: Children with Learning Disabilities Mac Stebbins
This is a report that looks like a slide-show or a slide show that looks like a report. It has a few tips on teaching reading to students with learning disabilities but I think the real gem here is the link provided at the end of the article to an entire blog on the subject.
1) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Reading Comprehension SpEd #2" Angelina Tejada-Ingram
Most teachers teach comprehension through vocabulary. However, this video proves that this way of teaching is ineffective, especially for SpEd students! Through an interesting demonstration, this video shows how vocabulary and comprehension have little to do with each other. In fact, "comprehension has much more to do with background than it does with vocabulary." The clip goes on to show how learning disabled students included in a general education classroom require extra time for decoding words, questions, and answers. It is an excellent resource and definitely worth watching.
2) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Reading: Ideas to Reading to a child with processing difficulties" Jeanne Vitus
Many children, including students with learning disabilities have difficulties learning to read. Repetition of reading, re-reading and then speaking out loud, can help students become more proficient at reading.
In this video clip, a young man named Curtis Holman shares his experience being a blind person who enjoys reading. He demonstrates on his “blind man’s laptop ” how to use the program Bookshare, which reads books aloud to him. Curtis explains the usefulness of this program in a school setting: it saves him from having to carry many, large, Braille books around with him. He applies the usefulness of the program to his future as a college student: he can download textbooks onto Bookshare and his laptop will read them to him. He demonstrates a love for reading as he says, “When I read, I can’t put the book down.” Without the Bookshare program, Curtis may have much less reading selection available for him. This story really hit home for me. When I was younger, I babysat for a young, blind girl and got to see the books she had that were written in Braille. The books were really big: large in size with many, fat pages. The pages could not be squished because the Braille would lose its bumpiness. It would be immensely difficult carrying books like that around for school. Plus, the books in Braille were expensive for her parents to purchase and she did not have much selection when it came to reading for pleasure. A program like Bookshare really would have helped this girl. Curtis proves that reading is more than seeing words on a page. He says, “The more you read, the more you learn about different scenarios and the more your brain can grow.” Having laptops for the blind with the Bookshare program would be a wonderful accommodation for blind students in a general education classroom.
4) Online Resource: Education World. Making Inclusion the Norm. Sara Merica
I stumbled onto an article that was very beneficial in clearing up some misconceptions about inclusion. Dr. Mara Sapon-Shevin, a professor of education at Syracuse University, discusses valuable information about inclusion and how it benefits all students. She touches on the difference between mainstreaming and inclusion, what an inclusive classroom looks like, and common misconceptions. She gives practical examples of what inclusion done-well looks like. This article is loaded with vital information about inclusion and it can be applied toward literacy, and any other content area. I found myself wanting to ask the same questions that Dr. Mara Sapon-Shevin was being asked in this article and you may be wondering the same things! http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat206.shtml
5) Video Resource: YouTube.com "The PCI Reading Program." AND Online Resource: PCI Education Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This clip runs like an advertisement for the PCI Reading Program—a well-designed curriculum for teaching reading to special education students in a general education classroom. I was drawn to this program because it gives teachers concise, easy-to-use instruction on how to teach students to read. Also, it is a curriculum modified for learning disabled students while also being a great way to teach ALL students. Thus, it seems like a perfect tool for an inclusive classroom. The program uses such techniques as repetition and review, hands-on activities, games, differentiated assessment, and positive reinforcement for students. One teacher who tried the PCI curriculum said, "I love the repetition that the program offers, along with the supplemental activities – it is a great way for students with autism to learn to read." Here is a link to the PCI Reading Program website:http://www.pcieducation.com/reading/
6) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Inclusion: Issues for Educators- Experts" Sara Merica
This video discusses important elements to an inclusion program- support. Getting to know each child is very important in how you develop a successful teacher-student relationship. Everyone needs to support the kids, even if it's a social worker. The regular education teacher needs to feel there is support from a team when dealing with inclusion students. The two most important things to take away from this video is that successful inclusion requires support and how you (being the educator) need to be able to let go of some of the traditional roles you have had in the classroom.
7) Online Resource: How to Teach Students with Reading Disabilities: Reading Inclusion Strategies for the Regular Education Teacher Sara Merica
This online resource provides simple, yet very useful information about reading disabilities and inclusion. It offers information about what is under the umbrella of a "reading disability," as well as what that student may be going through among their peers. Also, this resource provides information on common IEP modifications for students with reading disabilities and how to teach toward those modifications.
8) Video Resource: Special Education Teaching : Teaching Language Life Skills to Special Education Students Janelle Smith
This is a video by a special ed teacher about how she teaches words and vocabulary to her special ed students. She talks about how she focuses on teaching her students words that are meaningful and practical when teaching vocabulary, because sometimes her students struggle with everyday words for things like body parts or articles of clothing. It is an interesting video, this teacher has several videos on YouTube about different strategies she uses with her special ed students.
9) Online resource: Inclusion Development Programme Michael Stebbins
Based on the spelling, among other items on the page, I am fairly certain this was developped in the UK. It's a series of modules for language and communication disorders, as well as behavioral, emotional, and social difficulties. Each module goes into some depth, so I'm posting this link as a place to start.
10) Online resource:Keys to Successful Inclusion Michael Stebbins
This could be given to a teacher who has no background in dealing with students with learning disabilities of any kind and, if the teacher was anywhere near decent, they could do alright. It's almost a checklist you could run down as a daily refresher. Pretty cut and dry, but solid. It is very general and nothing to content area specific.
11) Video resource: Universal Design & Online Accessibility Michael Stebbins
While everything (including the voices) are creepily computer generated, this a is a pretty good explanation of Universal Design. I'm not sure about all aspects of the idea, but it does go along pretty well with the broader idea of providing the least restrictive environment, if not the case by case situations you may be involved with when dealing with individuals.
12) Video Resource: YouTube.com "RTI (Response to Intervention) - Special Education" Kayla Bortolazzo
This video is not the most exciting, but it is very informative in that the RTI teacher talks about the process she works through with kids, specifically kids that struggle with literacy. I thought the video was very interesting and it gave me more confidence to work in/with this system in the future.
13) Video Resource: YouTube.com "IPODS for Autism" Kayla Bortolazzo
This is a very interesting video (originally a news segment) on how a speech and language pathologist is using this technology to help children with Autism communicate more effectively. She has been seeing such great results that she even applied for a grant. I think this really puts what we have learned about assistive technologies into perspective for me.
14) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Teaching: How to Teach Writing to Learning Disability Students" Kayla Bortolazzo
This short video focuses on writing and some strategies one can use to ensure students will progress in their writing skills. The main component that the woman in the video emphasizes is that students with learning disabilities need planning time, lots of it, in order to work on their writing skills.
15) Online Resource: Laurel Tree Katie Sutter
Looking back over our wiki posts for the previous week as well as or fabulous discussions in class I've come to the realization that so much of special and general education is about creating a community. In creating this team of thinkers that are able to pull on each others specific strengths to reach a shared goal, we as teachers (and future teachers!) are preparing the students of today for the society of tomorrow. Personally, i feel that the "special" in education should be present for all students weather they need extra tutoring, an interpreter, a wheelchair or a helping hand when it comes to basic social skills. All students should feel that the education they are receiving is tuned in to them and that they can, in turn, contribute something equally important. In looking at Laurel Tree Learning Center's web page and parent/student updates page you really get the sense that these kids, teachers and parents are living in a community. Though specific methods of inclusion are not underlined in this web page they are in a way embedded into the very school style illustrated in the different areas of focus. The students are divided into three main groups elementary, middle school and high school however, the high school group is not divided by grade but rather bunched together in one class, while the curriculum is adjusted according to each child's needs. The same goes for the elementary and jr high students. Laurel Tree focuses on areas of study such as environmental studies, social studies, theater and art, as well as the basics. Areas such as theater allows students to access the curriculum from all different learning styles, this includes students with specific learning disabilities in reading comprehension. students can learn lines by rout memorization and action and still have a part in the play, thus feeling like they have contributed to a team project. Check out their web page and their video archive too! laurel tree
Week 3 Resources
1) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Introducing iPods into Special Education" Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This video shows how technology can be used to support students in special education. It specifically details how to aid students with hearing loss and how to support non-verbal students using the iPod to build vocabulary and comprehension. I was drawn to this resource because I have noted a draw to technology in the little girl I nanny for who has autism. She loves playing learning games on her mother’s iPod and iPad. What a great way to support student interest by using iPods in education! This clip shows how—with the use of iPod technology—students can learn more and more signed vocabulary, learn higher communication skills, and gain higher comprehension through watching videos of the stories being learned in class. If you are interested in technology supporting education, please watch this clip!
This slideshow describes the autism spectrum disorders including “What is Autism, “What is Asperger’s Disorder,” how common these disorders are, causes, and characteristics (though the link in the “characteristics” page does not work). Most importantly, though, this slideshow gives strategies for supporting the learner with autism in an inclusive setting. It includes such ideas as using a team approach, fostering an atmosphere of shared decision making, preparing the other students in the class, broadening the student’s scope of interest, breaking assignments into small units, using pictures to convey meaning, minimizing transitions, and much more. This resource is a great way to gain great ideas for inclusive teaching.
3) Slideshow: Slideshare.net "Picture Social Story." Angelina Tejada-Ingram
These two slide shows describe a great teaching tool: social stories. Social stories are written out procedures of a social aspect students encounter and are important strategies to implement with autistic students. They can also benefit any student, especially younger ones who are experiencing school for the first time. The first slideshow shares what a social story is, how to make one, and why they are important. It then gives an example of a social story—“Going to a restaurant.” The second slideshow gives an example of a social story that pertains to school—“Walking in the hallway.” Eventually students will be able to make social stories of their own. These slideshows are wonderful resources for anyone who teaches children with autism in any way. They are great tools for learning how to create social stories and implement them in an inclusionary classroom.
This has little to do with education and I don't expect it to count as a resource per se. It's a flash mob "ensemble" known as Rawcus made of people with and without disabilities doing their thing to a song by one of my favorite bands. I just thought it's be a good thing to have on this wiki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OqKdh95gX8
4) Video Resource: Station Teaching Katie Sutter
This link that I found on YouTube discusses the benefits of co teaching in stations. The video shows a class that has been divided into groups to discuss the difference between fact and opinion. While there is not a teacher stationed at every table a few teachers rotate from group to group to check on those who need help or redirection. In addition to these who are monitored on and off, those students struggling with the task sit at a station with a “full time” teacher who can help them as needed. I felt that this was an great modification of the station teaching method in order to better accommodate those children who may need more help in a general education classroom.
5) Online Resource: An Intervention Focus for Inclusionary Practice by Patricia A. Prelock: University of Vermont Sara Merica
This is a four section document focusing on language learning impaired (LLI) readers and the support that is needed in school-based settings. Areas that are explored include: The roles the Speech-Language pathologist might assume in inclusion classrooms, valued outcomes for inclusionary practice models, and some information about the next researce-to-practice steps for inclusionary practices. http://www.glrs.org/SLParticles/an%20intervention%20focus%20for%20inclusionary%20practice.pdf
6) Online Resource: Kids Together, Inc.: Information and Resources for Children and Adults with Disabilities Sara Merica
This website is a phenomenal source for information pertaining to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It not only gives information about inclusive classrooms, parents of children with disabilities, and the history about bringing children together, but it also offers discussion forums, legality information and valuable links to inclusive activities/events all over. This is a great website to navigate around in to better educate yourself about more inclusive communities and to gain additional resources!
Below is a picture I am adding from the above website- the parent's point of view!
7) Video Resource: YouTube.com: The Language Stealers Sara Merica
When I started watching this video, I was immediately heading for the "back" button. Before I could get to clicking the button, I realized it was a type of documentary about a couple high school students who were required to do the same things day-in and day-out! "No Reading, no writing, and no talking- not for these kids." After hearing the characters say this, I was intrigued. I continued to watch the whole video and found it very valuable. The animated characters demonstrate what school is like for them. Older students may be a little shunned to the side for being taught literacy at that age. It was interesting to see all the comments that appeared on the screen coming from the "Head Teacher". So, I hope you can watch this video and get the point that it is trying to make to its viewers about how you should not be a language stealer! Language Stealers expose the real barriers to communication for speech and motor impairments. You may be be surprised to find the real barriers are not with their disability.
8) Video Resource: YouTube.com: Children with ADHD Jeanne Vitus
I liked this video. Children with ADHD have a difficult time integrating visual and auditory input. A child may look directly at you, and not remember a word the teacher or parent may be saying. A child has to make a choice of either looking directly at the person or to listen to what is being said.
9) Video Resource: YouTube.com: ADHD Kids Before and After Jeanne Vitus
This video interviews three boys about what the stress and frustration they experience in the classroom and doing homework. By using transcendental mediation techniques, these same boys feel calmer, less stress and more confident. Relaxation and meditation can be effective for some children in the classroom.
10) Video Resource: Team Teaching Janelle Smith
This is a video which models team teaching, which is probably the most difficult co-teaching method. These two teachers work together very well, and they move back and forth very naturally. I think it's a good model for effective team teaching. The end gets kind of boring, but the first two minutes are good.
11) Slide Share: "iPod Touch: Mobile Solutions for Special Needs Students" Kayla Bortolazzo
This slideshow is amazing! I have been interested in using the iPhone/iPod Touch for teaching children with special needs ever since I saw the video about the school that used this technology for students with autism. This slideshow goes through the specific applications that can be used for different teaching exercises and even has sections where they show videos of the technology in action. This is a long, but very informative resource!
12) Video Resource: YouTube.com "ADHD Simulation" Kayla Bortolazzo
This video is great because it gives you an idea of what it feels like to have ADHD. I tried to answer the questions at the end and had very little success. Even though I anticipated that there would be distractions during the simulation, I still found myself unable to concentrate on the task I was supposed to be trying. I think this is a great resource for both teachers and non-ADHD students, so they can see what it is like to have this disability.
13) Video Resource: YouTube.com "The Power of Dyslexia about Famous Dyslexics" Kayla Bortolazzo
I love this video! The whole video is a list of famous people who had dylexia. I would show this to my students, whether they had dyslexia or not, to show them that this disorder does not have to define their lives or limit their success. Kids need positive role-models and this is a great resource for this purpose.
14) Online Resource: Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities. Michael Stebbins
I really like this link, and any link that can give good, applicable ideas to impliment in an organized manner. While it is a lot of information on one long html page, you can jump to ifferent classroom situations (testing, reading, field trips, etc) dand have an idea of how to address it when teaching it to students with learning disabilities. Still nothing on foreign languages, though. Sigh.
15) Online Resource: Helpguide.org Michael Stebbins
This particular url is for help-guide.org's page on ADHD/ADD, but I like it because anyone could hop to search various learning disabilities and strategies on how to teach to them and find some good information. It's all easy to find on the side-bar, nothing that's going to blow your doors off if you're an expert in the field but helpful for the gen ed teachers.
16) Online resource: Teaching Autism Students in Inclusive Classrooms Micheal Stebbins
I may have been looking in the wrong places but a lot of what I found on teaching to autism involved a non-inclusive setting. Again, not much of this seems like a surprise after what we'eve been reading, but I think it's still worth a good look.
1) Online resource: Advocacy Rap for Dyslexia!!! Katie Sutter
I found this awesome (and slightly cheesy!) rap about Dyslexia on YouTube. At first, I couldn't get past the very cheesy lyrics and pictures but he does actually talk about some important things like some signs of dyslexia in young learners and how to help them succeed in the classroom. He also mentions famous actors and writers who have dyslexia towards the end of his rap. check it out!
2-16) Please click on the file below to see the rest of our week 4 resources (chapter 13 summary/outline)
Sara Merica, Angelina Tejada-Ingram, Jeanne Vitus, Jeanelle Smith, Mac Stebbins, Katie Sutter, Kayla BortolazzoWeek 1 Resources
1) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Imagine Learning"
Sara Merica (team captain)
This resource found on YouTube.com discusses a literacy learning program called Imagine Learning. This program is used for students with disabilities and is beneficial because it allows each student to work toward individual goals. The summary sheet identifies the students' progress and their independent work toward specific goals. From the information provided in this video clip, I feel this program is not only beneficial for the students, but also the teacher. The teacher states how she is able to print off a report of the student's work. She can see exactly what the student needs to continue to improve on and what goals they have met. The report can allow the teacher to group students according to abilities and common goals. Students with disabilities work on improving their literacy skills just as the students without disabilities are. By being able to see similar abilities and targeted goals, it is easier to group students as necessary. This video also shows how literacy can involve technology, which is important because of its growing popularity among students.
2) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Multi-level Literacy"
Sara Merica (team captain)
At first I was not fond of the narrator of this resource, but the video gives some very applicable strategies and approaches to implementing multi-levels of literacy. These different applications can benefit the diverse group of students you may have in your classroom (all different abilities). This video discusses how to use tiered assignments involving the same content, by using different parts of Blooms Taxonomy as a guide. The assignments are given in different levels (different levels of complexity) which meets the needs of students with and without disabilities within your class, without having to divide your class up into different content groups. This resource gives very applicable assignment levels regarding well-known stories. The approaches to different assignments are given for elementary students all the way through middle and high school levels. It gives the viewer a well-rounded understanding of how to create multi-levels of literaacy for the variety of students that may be present.
3) Comic Strip Resource: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/ICT+and+LEARNING+STYLES
Sara Merica (team captain)
This comic strip represents the diversity among your students in your classroom. There are all different types of learners, some with disabilities and some without, present and ready to learn! It is not until you understand the different abilities that you can truly start teaching!
4) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Ben enjoys storytime!"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This YouTube video is short but engaging. It was interesting to observe how this teacher adapts her literacy lesson plans to meet the specific needs of each of her students. Although the focus is on the young boy (Ben), you can see how she is able to accomodate the other students she is teaching, as well. I think this video does a good job of demonstrating how teachers can gauge whether their students are comprehending the subject or not through pictures and touch. This is especially important for students with communication impairments.
5) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Teach Your Child Functional Language Pt. 2"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This video is from Rethink Autism. The primary focus of the video is to show how visual images (such as picture cards) and gestures are often necessary when teaching children with Autism literacy skills. Verbal literacy is an important part of learning and utilizing a language. However, for students with Autism, verbal expression may be difficult. This adaptation provides a useful way for children with Autism to effectively communicate what they want or what they have learned to their teacher (as well as to their parents, peers, etc.).
6) Online Resource: eHow "How to Help Special-Needs Children Learn the Alphabet"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This is an online lesson plan that explains one way a teacher can help children with special-needs learn the alphabet. Of course, this is only one method. When it comes down to it, there are so many students with so many types of learning impairments that there is no "one size fits all" approach to teaching the foundations of literacy. However, this is one, very general, option that I found. I think the site is useful in that it is written in an abreviated lesson plan format, so it lists all of the steps and materials you will need to facilitate the activity.
How to Help Special-Needs Children Learn the Alphabet
7.) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Differentiate Instruction, K-2, Part II: Tiered Assignments, Student Choice and Other Strategies"
Katie Sutter
The Bureau of Education and Research (B.E.R.) provides teachers with a new take on current curriculum as well as instruction on improved teaching strategies. B.E.R. specializes in online training programs for Educators in North America and utilizes current social research as its base for inclusion strategies and differential instruction. This specific clip focuses on the power of choice in the classroom, and how in allowing students a variety of options empowers each individual and provides the teacher with an insight to each students learning preference. Because every student learns differently this technique allows students to pick what learning style best represents their own. This type of flexibility in the classroom is essential when working with students from a variety of different backgrounds in an effort to meet a sea of different needs. Because this is a more broad technique i feel that it may be better incorporated into any classroom, subject or grade. Because most students with disabilities learn in a general education classroom the "choice" method helps students learn at a level appropriate for them.
8) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Teaching Autistic Kid To Read."
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This video resource shows a mother teaching her son with autism his letter sounds using the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. The following techniques depicted in the video are good ones to take note of: keeping things simple, using body movement, and using repetition. It gets a little distracted at the end, but overall the video clip is a great example of a real-life child with disabilities learning to read.
9) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Inclusion at work in elementary school."
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This video clip runs like a news clip. It talks about a young boy with down syndrome who is an active member of a general education classroom. It is a very neat story! The clip shows this boy learning to read and write and perform just like any other student in the classroom.. The teacher describes how this special student learns best using a visual format with more repetition while breaking down learning into smaller steps. But all students could benefit by learning that same way. I enjoy this video because it shows integration in action!
10) Slide Show: slideshare.net "Learning Disabilities and Reading Instruction."
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This resource is a slide show whose author relates struggling with reading to learning disabilities. The author claims that "Students who are better readers have higher self-esteem and self-confidence and view school in a more positive way, while students who struggle with reading participate in less social interactions with peers." This is the reasoning behind providing better reading instruction for students with disabilities. The author gives concise ways to provide better reading instruction for students with disabilities, including: using mnemonics, advanced story maps, peer assistance, and more. This resource is a wonderful one because of its specific teaching ideas for teaching literacy to students with disabilities. NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A HARD TIME READING THE TEXT ON SLIDES 4, 13, AND 14, TRY DARKENING YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN. THE BRIGHT COLORATION IS EASIER TO READ THAT WAY.
11) Video Resource - YouTube.com "Dyslexia -- the Signs to Look for"
Jeanne Vitus
This video is especially helpful for teachers and parents to diagnose or assess dyslexia and early intervention. This shows signs to look for and helpful ideas for intervention.
12) Article: readingrocket.org "Tell Me About the Story: Comprehension Strategies for Students with Autism."
Janelle Smith
This is an interesting article about different strategies for encouraging reading comprehension in children with autism. It begins by talking about how many students with autism are able to read, but do not understand what they read when questioned about it. The article then outlines several method for encouraging reading comprehension, with examples, and there are methods which are appropriate for students of all ages.
Tell Me About the Story: Comprehension Strategies for Students with Autism
13) Video resource: Second Language Acquisition in under 5 min
Mac Stebbins
This is a good, succinct video on language acquisition. It was clearly disigned more for teachers addressing adult second language learneers, but the simplicity of the points made in the video and the clear explanation of certain concepts (grammatical structures, use of subjects/objects, et cetera) makes this a good video for a teacher with any students whose disabilities involve a difficulty with language acquisition even if it concerns the students' first language.
14) Video resource: Adapted Literature
Mac Stebbins
This guy could stand to work on his presentation but what he's presenting is pretty great. He's demonstrating and explaining a couple of methods for teaching literature to students with severe cognitive disabilities using adapted liturature. This works for my content area because it doesn't take much fiddling to work these strategies towards teaching a second language.
15) Slideshow/report?: Children with Learning Disabilities
Mac Stebbins
This is a report that looks like a slide-show or a slide show that looks like a report. It has a few tips on teaching reading to students with learning disabilities but I think the real gem here is the link provided at the end of the article to an entire blog on the subject.
Week 2 Resources
1) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Reading Comprehension SpEd #2"
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
Most teachers teach comprehension through vocabulary. However, this video proves that this way of teaching is ineffective, especially for SpEd students! Through an interesting demonstration, this video shows how vocabulary and comprehension have little to do with each other. In fact, "comprehension has much more to do with background than it does with vocabulary." The clip goes on to show how learning disabled students included in a general education classroom require extra time for decoding words, questions, and answers. It is an excellent resource and definitely worth watching.
2) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Reading: Ideas to Reading to a child with processing difficulties"
Jeanne Vitus
Many children, including students with learning disabilities have difficulties learning to read. Repetition of reading, re-reading and then speaking out loud, can help students become more proficient at reading.
3) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Blind Student Curtis Holman Demonstrates Bookshare."
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
In this video clip, a young man named Curtis Holman shares his experience being a blind person who enjoys reading. He demonstrates on his “blind man’s laptop ” how to use the program Bookshare, which reads books aloud to him. Curtis explains the usefulness of this program in a school setting: it saves him from having to carry many, large, Braille books around with him. He applies the usefulness of the program to his future as a college student: he can download textbooks onto Bookshare and his laptop will read them to him. He demonstrates a love for reading as he says, “When I read, I can’t put the book down.” Without the Bookshare program, Curtis may have much less reading selection available for him.
This story really hit home for me. When I was younger, I babysat for a young, blind girl and got to see the books she had that were written in Braille. The books were really big: large in size with many, fat pages. The pages could not be squished because the Braille would lose its bumpiness. It would be immensely difficult carrying books like that around for school. Plus, the books in Braille were expensive for her parents to purchase and she did not have much selection when it came to reading for pleasure. A program like Bookshare really would have helped this girl.
Curtis proves that reading is more than seeing words on a page. He says, “The more you read, the more you learn about different scenarios and the more your brain can grow.” Having laptops for the blind with the Bookshare program would be a wonderful accommodation for blind students in a general education classroom.
4) Online Resource: Education World. Making Inclusion the Norm.
Sara Merica
I stumbled onto an article that was very beneficial in clearing up some misconceptions about inclusion. Dr. Mara Sapon-Shevin, a professor of education at Syracuse University, discusses valuable information about inclusion and how it benefits all students. She touches on the difference between mainstreaming and inclusion, what an inclusive classroom looks like, and common misconceptions. She gives practical examples of what inclusion done-well looks like. This article is loaded with vital information about inclusion and it can be applied toward literacy, and any other content area. I found myself wanting to ask the same questions that Dr. Mara Sapon-Shevin was being asked in this article and you may be wondering the same things!
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat206.shtml
5) Video Resource: YouTube.com "The PCI Reading Program." AND
Online Resource: PCI Education
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This clip runs like an advertisement for the PCI Reading Program—a well-designed curriculum for teaching reading to special education students in a general education classroom. I was drawn to this program because it gives teachers concise, easy-to-use instruction on how to teach students to read. Also, it is a curriculum modified for learning disabled students while also being a great way to teach ALL students. Thus, it seems like a perfect tool for an inclusive classroom. The program uses such techniques as repetition and review, hands-on activities, games, differentiated assessment, and positive reinforcement for students. One teacher who tried the PCI curriculum said, "I love the repetition that the program offers, along with the supplemental activities – it is a great way for students with autism to learn to read."
Here is a link to the PCI Reading Program website: http://www.pcieducation.com/reading/
6) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Inclusion: Issues for Educators- Experts"
Sara Merica
This video discusses important elements to an inclusion program- support. Getting to know each child is very important in how you develop a successful teacher-student relationship. Everyone needs to support the kids, even if it's a social worker. The regular education teacher needs to feel there is support from a team when dealing with inclusion students. The two most important things to take away from this video is that successful inclusion requires support and how you (being the educator) need to be able to let go of some of the traditional roles you have had in the classroom.
7) Online Resource: How to Teach Students with Reading Disabilities: Reading Inclusion Strategies for the Regular Education Teacher
Sara Merica
This online resource provides simple, yet very useful information about reading disabilities and inclusion. It offers information about what is under the umbrella of a "reading disability," as well as what that student may be going through among their peers. Also, this resource provides information on common IEP modifications for students with reading disabilities and how to teach toward those modifications.
http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-teach-students-with-reading-disabilities-a78602
8) Video Resource: Special Education Teaching : Teaching Language Life Skills to Special Education Students
Janelle Smith
This is a video by a special ed teacher about how she teaches words and vocabulary to her special ed students. She talks about how she focuses on teaching her students words that are meaningful and practical when teaching vocabulary, because sometimes her students struggle with everyday words for things like body parts or articles of clothing. It is an interesting video, this teacher has several videos on YouTube about different strategies she uses with her special ed students.
9) Online resource: Inclusion Development Programme
Michael Stebbins
Based on the spelling, among other items on the page, I am fairly certain this was developped in the UK. It's a series of modules for language and communication disorders, as well as behavioral, emotional, and social difficulties. Each module goes into some depth, so I'm posting this link as a place to start.
http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/search/inclusion/results/nav:46335
10) Online resource:Keys to Successful Inclusion
Michael Stebbins
This could be given to a teacher who has no background in dealing with students with learning disabilities of any kind and, if the teacher was anywhere near decent, they could do alright. It's almost a checklist you could run down as a daily refresher. Pretty cut and dry, but solid. It is very general and nothing to content area specific.
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/special-education/resource/2972.html?detoured=1
11) Video resource: Universal Design & Online Accessibility
Michael Stebbins
While everything (including the voices) are creepily computer generated, this a is a pretty good explanation of Universal Design. I'm not sure about all aspects of the idea, but it does go along pretty well with the broader idea of providing the least restrictive environment, if not the case by case situations you may be involved with when dealing with individuals.
12) Video Resource: YouTube.com "RTI (Response to Intervention) - Special Education"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This video is not the most exciting, but it is very informative in that the RTI teacher talks about the process she works through with kids, specifically kids that struggle with literacy. I thought the video was very interesting and it gave me more confidence to work in/with this system in the future.
13) Video Resource: YouTube.com "IPODS for Autism"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This is a very interesting video (originally a news segment) on how a speech and language pathologist is using this technology to help children with Autism communicate more effectively. She has been seeing such great results that she even applied for a grant. I think this really puts what we have learned about assistive technologies into perspective for me.
14) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Teaching: How to Teach Writing to Learning Disability Students"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This short video focuses on writing and some strategies one can use to ensure students will progress in their writing skills. The main component that the woman in the video emphasizes is that students with learning disabilities need planning time, lots of it, in order to work on their writing skills.
15) Online Resource: Laurel Tree
Katie Sutter
Looking back over our wiki posts for the previous week as well as or fabulous discussions in class I've come to the realization that so much of special and general education is about creating a community. In creating this team of thinkers that are able to pull on each others specific strengths to reach a shared goal, we as teachers (and future teachers!) are preparing the students of today for the society of tomorrow. Personally, i feel that the "special" in education should be present for all students weather they need extra tutoring, an interpreter, a wheelchair or a helping hand when it comes to basic social skills. All students should feel that the education they are receiving is tuned in to them and that they can, in turn, contribute something equally important. In looking at Laurel Tree Learning Center's web page and parent/student updates page you really get the sense that these kids, teachers and parents are living in a community.
Though specific methods of inclusion are not underlined in this web page they are in a way embedded into the very school style illustrated in the different areas of focus. The students are divided into three main groups elementary, middle school and high school however, the high school group is not divided by grade but rather bunched together in one class, while the curriculum is adjusted according to each child's needs. The same goes for the elementary and jr high students. Laurel Tree focuses on areas of study such as environmental studies, social studies, theater and art, as well as the basics. Areas such as theater allows students to access the curriculum from all different learning styles, this includes students with specific learning disabilities in reading comprehension. students can learn lines by rout memorization and action and still have a part in the play, thus feeling like they have contributed to a team project.
Check out their web page and their video archive too!
laurel tree
Week 3 Resources
1) Video Resource: YouTube.com "Introducing iPods into Special Education"Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This video shows how technology can be used to support students in special education. It specifically details how to aid students with hearing loss and how to support non-verbal students using the iPod to build vocabulary and comprehension. I was drawn to this resource because I have noted a draw to technology in the little girl I nanny for who has autism. She loves playing learning games on her mother’s iPod and iPad. What a great way to support student interest by using iPods in education! This clip shows how—with the use of iPod technology—students can learn more and more signed vocabulary, learn higher communication skills, and gain higher comprehension through watching videos of the stories being learned in class. If you are interested in technology supporting education, please watch this clip!
2) Slideshow: Slideshare.net "Autism Spectrum Disorders."
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
This slideshow describes the autism spectrum disorders including “What is Autism, “What is Asperger’s Disorder,” how common these disorders are, causes, and characteristics (though the link in the “characteristics” page does not work). Most importantly, though, this slideshow gives strategies for supporting the learner with autism in an inclusive setting. It includes such ideas as using a team approach, fostering an atmosphere of shared decision making, preparing the other students in the class, broadening the student’s scope of interest, breaking assignments into small units, using pictures to convey meaning, minimizing transitions, and much more. This resource is a great way to gain great ideas for inclusive teaching.
3) Slideshow: Slideshare.net "Picture Social Story."
Angelina Tejada-Ingram
These two slide shows describe a great teaching tool: social stories. Social stories are written out procedures of a social aspect students encounter and are important strategies to implement with autistic students. They can also benefit any student, especially younger ones who are experiencing school for the first time. The first slideshow shares what a social story is, how to make one, and why they are important. It then gives an example of a social story—“Going to a restaurant.” The second slideshow gives an example of a social story that pertains to school—“Walking in the hallway.” Eventually students will be able to make social stories of their own. These slideshows are wonderful resources for anyone who teaches children with autism in any way. They are great tools for learning how to create social stories and implement them in an inclusionary classroom.
This has little to do with education and I don't expect it to count as a resource per se. It's a flash mob "ensemble" known as Rawcus made of people with and without disabilities doing their thing to a song by one of my favorite bands. I just thought it's be a good thing to have on this wiki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OqKdh95gX8
4) Video Resource: Station Teaching
Katie Sutter
This link that I found on YouTube discusses the benefits of co teaching in stations. The video shows a class that has been divided into groups to discuss the difference between fact and opinion. While there is not a teacher stationed at every table a few teachers rotate from group to group to check on those who need help or redirection. In addition to these who are monitored on and off, those students struggling with the task sit at a station with a “full time” teacher who can help them as needed. I felt that this was an great modification of the station teaching method in order to better accommodate those children who may need more help in a general education classroom.
5) Online Resource: An Intervention Focus for Inclusionary Practice by Patricia A. Prelock: University of Vermont
Sara Merica
This is a four section document focusing on language learning impaired (LLI) readers and the support that is needed in school-based settings. Areas that are explored include: The roles the Speech-Language pathologist might assume in inclusion classrooms, valued outcomes for inclusionary practice models, and some information about the next researce-to-practice steps for inclusionary practices.
http://www.glrs.org/SLParticles/an%20intervention%20focus%20for%20inclusionary%20practice.pdf
6) Online Resource: Kids Together, Inc.: Information and Resources for Children and Adults with Disabilities
Sara Merica
This website is a phenomenal source for information pertaining to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It not only gives information about inclusive classrooms, parents of children with disabilities, and the history about bringing children together, but it also offers discussion forums, legality information and valuable links to inclusive activities/events all over. This is a great website to navigate around in to better educate yourself about more inclusive communities and to gain additional resources!
http://www.kidstogether.org/index.htm
Below is a picture I am adding from the above website- the parent's point of view!
7) Video Resource: YouTube.com: The Language Stealers
Sara Merica
When I started watching this video, I was immediately heading for the "back" button. Before I could get to clicking the button, I realized it was a type of documentary about a couple high school students who were required to do the same things day-in and day-out! "No Reading, no writing, and no talking- not for these kids." After hearing the characters say this, I was intrigued. I continued to watch the whole video and found it very valuable. The animated characters demonstrate what school is like for them. Older students may be a little shunned to the side for being taught literacy at that age. It was interesting to see all the comments that appeared on the screen coming from the "Head Teacher". So, I hope you can watch this video and get the point that it is trying to make to its viewers about how you should not be a language stealer! Language Stealers expose the real barriers to communication for speech and motor impairments. You may be be surprised to find the real barriers are not with their disability.
8) Video Resource: YouTube.com: Children with ADHD
Jeanne Vitus
I liked this video. Children with ADHD have a difficult time integrating visual and auditory input. A child may look directly at you, and not remember a word the teacher or parent may be saying. A child has to make a choice of either looking directly at the person or to listen to what is being said.
9) Video Resource: YouTube.com: ADHD Kids Before and After
Jeanne Vitus
This video interviews three boys about what the stress and frustration they experience in the classroom and doing homework. By using transcendental mediation techniques, these same boys feel calmer, less stress and more confident. Relaxation and meditation can be effective for some children in the classroom.
10) Video Resource: Team Teaching
Janelle Smith
This is a video which models team teaching, which is probably the most difficult co-teaching method. These two teachers work together very well, and they move back and forth very naturally. I think it's a good model for effective team teaching. The end gets kind of boring, but the first two minutes are good.
11) Slide Share: "iPod Touch: Mobile Solutions for Special Needs Students"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This slideshow is amazing! I have been interested in using the iPhone/iPod Touch for teaching children with special needs ever since I saw the video about the school that used this technology for students with autism. This slideshow goes through the specific applications that can be used for different teaching exercises and even has sections where they show videos of the technology in action. This is a long, but very informative resource!
12) Video Resource: YouTube.com "ADHD Simulation"
Kayla Bortolazzo
This video is great because it gives you an idea of what it feels like to have ADHD. I tried to answer the questions at the end and had very little success. Even though I anticipated that there would be distractions during the simulation, I still found myself unable to concentrate on the task I was supposed to be trying. I think this is a great resource for both teachers and non-ADHD students, so they can see what it is like to have this disability.
13) Video Resource: YouTube.com "The Power of Dyslexia about Famous Dyslexics"
Kayla Bortolazzo
I love this video! The whole video is a list of famous people who had dylexia. I would show this to my students, whether they had dyslexia or not, to show them that this disorder does not have to define their lives or limit their success. Kids need positive role-models and this is a great resource for this purpose.
14) Online Resource: Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities.
Michael Stebbins
I really like this link, and any link that can give good, applicable ideas to impliment in an organized manner. While it is a lot of information on one long html page, you can jump to ifferent classroom situations (testing, reading, field trips, etc) dand have an idea of how to address it when teaching it to students with learning disabilities. Still nothing on foreign languages, though. Sigh.
http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/learning.html
15) Online Resource: Helpguide.org
Michael Stebbins
This particular url is for help-guide.org's page on ADHD/ADD, but I like it because anyone could hop to search various learning disabilities and strategies on how to teach to them and find some good information. It's all easy to find on the side-bar, nothing that's going to blow your doors off if you're an expert in the field but helpful for the gen ed teachers.
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_teaching_strategies.htm
16) Online resource: Teaching Autism Students in Inclusive Classrooms
Micheal Stebbins
I may have been looking in the wrong places but a lot of what I found on teaching to autism involved a non-inclusive setting. Again, not much of this seems like a surprise after what we'eve been reading, but I think it's still worth a good look.
http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/autism-students-in-inclusive-classrooms.html
Week 4 Resources
1) Online resource: Advocacy Rap for Dyslexia!!!Katie Sutter
I found this awesome (and slightly cheesy!) rap about Dyslexia on YouTube. At first, I couldn't get past the very cheesy lyrics and pictures but he does actually talk about some important things like some signs of dyslexia in young learners and how to help them succeed in the classroom. He also mentions famous actors and writers who have dyslexia towards the end of his rap. check it out!
2-16) Please click on the file below to see the rest of our week 4 resources (chapter 13 summary/outline)
Motivation/Inspiration video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_-P4t2jR1g